Team U.S.A. Links

Sysco is the latest food giant—it’s the largest food distributor in the country—to come out against gestation crate confinement of pigs. The National Pork Producers Council’s communications director was quoted in the National Journal saying: “So our animals can’t turn around for the 2.5 years that they are in the stalls producing piglets…I don’t know who asked the sow if she wanted to turn around.” Really.

And: Guess who’s fighting against the California GMO labeling movement? ConAgra, Smucker, Hormel, Kellogg, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, among others, are battling a mandatory labeling ballot initiative, Prop 37, which comes to a vote in November. (Note: If you’re part of this ballot initiative, please get me on your mailing list: bittman@nytimes.com.) Here are the top 10 genetically modified foods. Makes you think twice about chewing Trident. Cargill’s take on how to feed the world. At least two of these points (the second two) make sense, but methinks they’re not saying all they believe. Hmm.

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine filed a petition with the U.S.D.A. asking for milk to be banned from school lunches, claiming it’s “high in sugar, high in fat and high in animal protein that is harmful to, rather than protective of, bone health.” Banning seems extreme to me but…

About

Mark Bittman writes (mostly) about food for the Times Opinion pages, and is The Magazine’s lead food columnist. He is the author of “VB6: Eat Vegan Before 6:00” and “How To Cook Everything”. His Web site is markbittman.com.